Spanish Clubs

Barcelona coach Quique Setién has said he does not always see eye-to-eye with his squad as their LaLiga title bid threatens to unravel following Saturday's 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo.

Second-placed Barça trail Real Madrid by two points with six games to go and face a grueling match at home to third-placed Atlético Madrid on Tuesday which they need to win to stay in close contention in the title race.

"It's true that you often have arguments with players as you do in everyday life and that's nothing new," Setién told a virtual news conference on Monday. 

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema produced an audacious back-heeled assist for Casemiro to score as they beat Espanyol 1-0 away on Sunday to capitalize on Barcelona's slip-up a day earlier and move two points clear at the top of LaLiga.

Brazilian midfielder Casemiro slid to the ground to guide the ball home on the stroke of halftime after being played in by a stroke of genius from Benzema, who dragged the ball through the legs of the defender marking him to find his team mate.

Juventus are set to sign Brazil international Arthur Melo from Barcelona after the midfielder agreed a five-year contract with the Italian champions and passed a medical, according to Spanish media reports on Sunday.

The move is part of a twin negotiation between the clubs which involves Bosnia midfielder Miralem Pjanić moving to Barça, said reports in sports dailies Mundo Deportivo and Marca.

Celta Vigo had 11 players behind the ball as Lionel Messi set up for a free kick just outside the box. Everyone expected the Argentine to shoot. Instead he picked out Luis Suarez with a pinpoint assist. Despite the impressive Messi assist to Suarez, however, Celta Vigo nicked a 2-2 draw to further hamper Barcelona’s title hopes on Saturday.

The Blaugrana looked strong for much of the match, especially when Messi set up a go-ahead goal in the 20th minute.

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system is not being used correctly in LaLiga, Barcelona manager Quique Setién said on Monday following Real Madrid's controversial win at Real Sociedad.

Madrid beat Sociedad 2-1 to climb above Barcelona at the top of LaLiga but the home side were aggrieved because they had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside and Karim Benzema's winner stood after he appeared to control the ball with his arm.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he was disappointed that he was only asked about the referee's decisions after his side earned a 2-1 victory at Real Sociedad on Sunday to climb above Barcelona and top LaLiga.

The day before the game, Zidane had been forced to defend his team against a suggestion from Barça defender Gerard Piqué that decisions were going Madrid's way after their 3-0 win over Valencia, in which Rodrigo had an opening goal ruled out.

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong is set to miss the team's next match against Athletic Bilbao after the club said in a statement on Sunday he had injured the calf muscle in his right leg.

Dutch international De Jong missed Friday's 0-0 draw away to Sevilla which dented Barca's hopes of winning the Spanish title, with coach Quique Setien saying before the game he was leaving the player out as a precaution.